Jan 16, 2025 - News
Phoenix traffic actually isn't so bad
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Phoenix drivers ought to tone down their griping. According to a new study, our commutes are relatively easy.
By the numbers: It took an average of about 10.4 minutes to drive 6 miles in 2024, according to TomTom's annual Traffic Index released earlier this month.
- That's 9 seconds slower than last year, but still well below other big western cities like Denver (14 minutes) and Houston (12.4 minutes).
- Phoenix's commute ranked 69th slowest among the 93 largest U.S. cities.
Yes, but: The average Phoenix driver still lost an average of 31 hours in rush hour last year.
Zoom out: Mesa saw one of the fastest U.S. commutes with an average 6-mile drive time of 9.3 minutes.
How it works: TomTom's report is based on a representative sample of data collected by "over 600 million devices" and "over 61 billion anonymous GPS data points around the world," the company says.
- The numbers are based on "the densest areas that capture 20% of all trips within the city-connected area," per TomTom.